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> If banks are accumulating wealth, which may very well be our reality

It is.

> this wealth would be reflected in the equity value of the bank itself

It is.

> this wealth would still be reflected in the wealth of private households who had ownership in the bank.

It is.

What do you mean with all these "if" statements that are quantitatively true? Even stock markets are aggregators of wealth (focusing gains on a small population).

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The point is that it doesn't matter who the accumulator is, only if the accumulation is to a detrimental degree. The Gini coefficient in the UK is already lower than most, and reducing it probably won't solve the homeless crisis there. I suspect the bigger contributor to the homeless problem in the UK is the cost of living increasing to an unsustainable level for a large portion of the population.

My point is that increase in the housing part of the cost of living is directly tied to the wealth created by the extremely relaxed mortgage lending environment of the last 15-20 years. If that debt were extinguished, house (and rent) prices would be lower for a relatively large population, and wealth would be destroyed for a relatively small (but powerful) number.

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